From left: Bristol School Committee Chair Darin Carlucci speaks to select board members Paul Yates and Chad Hanna about a $6 million-plus plan for the renovation of Bristol Consolidated School in October. Bristol voters go to the polls at the Bristol town office on Monday, March 20 to decide the question. (LCN file photo)
Bristol residents will convene the business portion of their annual town meeting Tuesday, March 21 already knowing the answer to the biggest question placed before the town in a generation.
In March 2003, Bristol residents vetoed a $1.9 million school bond, 643-313. On Monday, March 20, residents return to the question, this time considering a $6,425,000 general obligation bond. Should voters approve the article, the Bristol Select Board will be authorized to issue 15-year bonds or notes to fund additions and improvements to the Bristol Consolidated School.
Figured at 5.3% interest, amounting to $2,603,251, the total bond will cost the town $9,028,251. The article is recommended by the select board and both the school and budget committees.
Bristol school officials have outlined the purpose for the bond and scope of the project in a series of public hearings, beginning last fall.
Stated goals of the project include providing increased security to students and staff, producing annual cost savings by improving electric and heat efficiencies, making the building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, increasing space for students, and building a cafeteria that can double as a multi-purpose community room.
A net of two new classrooms will be gained, three-phase power will be added to the building, and heat pumps will be installed throughout. A separate entrance will allow for the space to be used for municipal functions, such as voting, while school is in session.
Arguing a vibrant school community is a proven benefit for the community it serves, Bristol Consolidated School Committee Chair Darin Carlucci said the plan addresses the facility’s existing needs. He added the school committee’s management team will monitor the project closely.
“We have enlisted a builder’s representative to go through all of the numbers and speak with all the contractors to make sure we are getting what we think we are getting, on time, and it’s what the town wants,” Carlucci said. “I would ask people with concerns to ask themselves, how do they benefit from having a vibrant, safe, and healthy school, either directly or indirectly?”
Polls will be open on the question, and for the election of municipal officers, at the Bristol town office in Bristol Mills between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Monday, March 20.
The business portion of the annual town meeting convenes at the Bristol Consolidated School at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 21.
The outcome of the school referendum vote, which is article three on the warrant, determines which two of the next four warrant articles town meeting participants will consider.
If the school bond does not pass Monday, voters will be asked to consider article four, which would appropriate an additional $773,461.72 for facilities maintenance, making the total appropriation for the purpose $1,293,757.72. Article five proposes rejecting $773,461.72 for debt services.
If article three does pass, voters will be asked to move to article six to consider expending $520,296 for facilities maintenance. Article seven would expend $773,461.72 for debt services.
The bulk of the first 21 articles on the warrant all pertain to the school.
All together, Bristol residents will be asked to approve a $6,909,579.94 education budget as outlined in article 19. Articles 20 and 21 fund the budget, appropriating $5,964,140.04 in total local funds.
Article 20 would appropriate $3,616,593.04 to meet the state’s determined funding level for Essential Programs and Services, Article 21 would exceed that threshold, raising an additional $2,347,537 in local funds. A $500,000 fund balance forward and a $445,449 state subsidy estimate round out the budget.
As presented, voters will be asked to expend $2,885,981.64 for regular instruction, an increase of $85,696.14 or 4%; $1,243,486.10 for special education, an increase of $150,090.49 or 15%; $100 for career and technical instruction, no change; $337,903.32 for school administration, an increase of $62,121.49 or 23%; $482,250 for transportation and buses, an increase of $7,500 or 2%; $151,576.91 for system administration, an increase of $12,742.38 or 9%; $375,904.50 for student and staff support, an increase of $51,748.49 or 16%; $119,095.76 for other instruction an increase of $9,705.25 or 9%; and $19,523.19 for all other expenditures, an increase of $428.49 or 2%. Voters will also be asked whether to authorize the school committee to carry forward a fund balance not to exceed $125,000.
Among municipal articles, the budget is up largely on the strength of costs increases particularly regarding utilities, fuel, and payroll, according to Bristol Town Administrator Rachel Bizarro.
Article 25 asks the voters to raise and appropriate $797,500 for the town government. The figure is up $77,250. The bulk of that increase is a $37,000, 206% increase in the assessment maintenance contract to $55,000. In the same article, the payroll budget is $520,500, up $28,750 or 6%.
An article seeking appropriation for capital reserve accounts is down almost 40%, falling $27,500 to $48,500 as proposed.
Article 30, presenting the proposed budget for town roads and bridges, highway equipment, and the town garage, ticks up $51,953.26 or 5% to $1,092,453.26. Within the budget a $100,000 increase in the snow removal line item, up 19% to $620,000, is partially offset by a 10%, $50,000 reduction in road and bridge maintenance line item falling to $450,000 as proposed.
Bristol Fire and Rescue operations budget request, presented in article 33, is up less than three percent, rising $14,981 to $514,039.57. Within the budget, some line items changed significantly. The bulk of the increase is in operations, which includes fuel and salaries. The figure rose $39,700 to $401,100. The request for the fire truck fund is up 17%, $10,000, rising to $60,000. The payment on the fire truck note decreases almost 50%, falling $12,105.20 to $11,880.72.
The Bristol/South Bristol Transfer Station is level-funded in appropriations at $295,894.87.
The Bristol Mills Dam and Fish Ladder budget is down $40,000, falling from $177,000 to $137,000. The majority of the funds, $125,000, is slated for the final stage of the fish ladder project.
As proposed, Bristol’s 2023 municipal budget totals $3,482,377.19, an increase of $105,732.83 or 3%.
If voters approve, the budget will be funded by $400,092.10 in funds carried forward, up $132,062.74 or 40%; $455,846.09 from surplus, a decrease of $371,562.40 or 45%; $1,587,652.25 in appropriations, an increase of $327,580.74 or 30%; $790,000 in excise taxes up $40,000 or 6%; a $48,068 Maine Department of Transportation Block Grant, up $5,568 or 6%; $112,000 American Rescue Plan Act funds, down $57,410 or 34%; and $57,508.75 in fees and interest, up $42,508.75 or 283%.
In voting for candidates for Bristol town elections, all candidates are unopposed.
Incumbent Bristol Select Board member Chad Hanna, school committee chair Carlucci, and parks and recreation Commissioner Laurie Mahan is unopposed in bids for three-year terms on their respective boards.
Jessica Westhaver is unopposed in a bid for a two-year term on the Bristol Planning Board. There are two three-year terms up for election on the planning board, but only one candidate, incumbent Benjamin Pendleton, on the official ballot.
Pemaquid resident Michael Rosa has announced his write-in candidacy for a three-year term on the planning board. The Rosa family moved to Bristol in 2019 and has three children in the Bristol school system, one of whom attends Lincoln Academy.
Rosa said he is running for the board out of a desire to help his new town. He said he is particularly motivated by his experience living in coastal New Hampshire and seeing how that area was developed.
“I have seen the positives and the negatives and I want to help make sure Bristol is moving in the right direction for its residents,” he said.
Rosa is an Army veteran and a current federal employee.
To cast a valid ballot for a write-in candidate, voters must write the name of the candidate in the space provided and check the box next to the name. Failure to complete either act may invalidate the ballot.
